Letters to the Editor published Wednesday, May 4, 2011

May 04, 2011 05:00 am

Thank you for buying candy for our class

Editor:

This week our teacher, Ms. Sherbourne, was shopping at Fred Meyers for candy to put in our Mother’s Day boxes. A nice man came up and offered her money to pay for the candy, but our teacher said ‘Thank you, but I can’t take your money.’ He said “I insist, please take the money!” So she did and bought two bags of candy.

We don’t know who this man is, but the whole class would like to say “Thank you!” It was a very nice thing to do for us. We’re so glad he did it.

From everybody in

Ms. Sherbourne’s class

Kalmiopsis Elementary School, Brookings

Obama is not very presidential

Editor:

It was President Obama who said, “We need bipartisanship to get our deficit under control.”

He invited Republicans to the front row during his speech in April, and then he impugned their reputation by saying they have no concept of what they were doing. Not very presidential is he?

How many times are regular voters going to let the free press pick a Democratic president like they have starting with Carter? If we don’t see clearly as a majority soon then the Standard & Poor’s warning will go ignored.

Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are co-chairman of the bipartisan commission and their findings are the same as Representative Paul Ryan’s, but the president is not acknowledging their findings; his only interest is raising taxes and spending more then we take in.

Let me explain as simply as possible a fact you must think about. According to our Congressional budget office, 47 percent of our workforce pay zero federal taxes – that’s right, zero. Fox news reports that Democrats want to raise taxes on the rich and Republicans want to cut entitlements like Social Security and Medicare. If you continue to raise taxes only on the rich (and I’m not one) and, say, 60 percent of us don’t pay federal income tax, guess who all the mindless freeloaders are going to vote for?

Say goodbye to the U.S.A. as we know it and say hello to Democratic Marxism coming soon to your hometown. History proves Marxist governments always fail.

Teri Dalrymple

Gold Beach

Bob Horel has my vote for school board

Editor:

Bob Horel has my vote for Brookings-Harbor School Board Position No. 1.

I encourage others to join me.

Bob has the vision, experience and commitment to be a real asset to the Brookings-Harbor School Board. His priority is to “Ensure the highest quality education for Brookings-Harbor students.” During his career and in volunteer activities, Bob acquired the experience in leadership, budgeting, and teaching, to back this up. He has the commitment, serving on the Brookings-Harbor School Board now, as well as serving on other school boards in the past. Bob also served on the Brookings-Harbor School District Budget Committee, and the Brookings-Harbor High School Site Council.

Our students deserve the best and Bob will help to ensure they get it.

Bobbie Gross

Brookings

Get your SOD questions answered

Editor:

We all have questions.

Is there a cure? How is it spread? Can it be stopped? Can you use the wood in your home? All these and more will be answered. A neighborhood meeting of the Cape Ferrelo Fire District residents and the Coos Forest Service will hold an informational meeting on May 9, at 6 p.m., at the Cape Ferrelo Fire Department hall. Come and get your questions answered by the people that know!

Dianna Blazo

Cape Ferrelo Fire Department

Urge you to keep Horel on board

Editor:

I work with Bob Horel at the College of the Redwoods, where he teaches math and I am the learning disability specialist. I was also recently elected to the school board in Del Norte County, just across the border.

I know that Oregon and California are both struggling financially, and are likely to continue to struggle for a while.

Over the course of the last half year, I have had occasion to talk with Bob, first when running for office, and then after being elected. Our board has been coping with all the issues created when there is a lack of money for schools, as well as all the issues that come up when people work together. When I approach him for advice, I have found that Bob understands the issues instantly, and has the financial knowledge, the managerial skill and the perspective to advise me effectively.

I have tremendous respect for his analytical ability, his people skills, and his dedication to community service. He has the wisdom to help guide the Brookings Harbor schools, and I urge your vote to retain Bob Horel on the Brookings Harbor school board.

Don McArthur

Crescent City

National Provider Appreciation Day

Editor:

Do you have a special child care provider that you would like to thank for their caring commitment to quality care and early childhood education?

Friday, May 6, 2011, is National Provider Appreciation Day, a special day to recognize child care providers, teachers, school-age program staff, child care center directors and staff, and all those who work with children and are responsible for their education and care.

It is estimated that there are nearly 2.8 million child care providers in the United States and that more than 11 million children under age 5 are in their care. Provider Appreciation Day was started in 1996 by a group of volunteers in New Jersey who saw the need to recognize the tireless efforts of providers who care for children of working parents.

“By applauding the dedication of child care providers on May 6, we remind our communities of the importance of quality child care, and let providers everywhere know that we recognize and value their important work,” said Linda K. Smith, Executive Director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), the host organization of Provider Appreciation Day. “It is important that the care a child receives during the first five years of life be of quality because approximately 90 percent of brain development occurs during those years.”

To learn more about Provider Appreciation Day or for ideas on how you can thank your child care provider, please visit www.providerappreciationday.org. On Friday, May 6, let’s show appreciation for all providers who’ve dedicated themselves to caring for children.

To child care providers and early childhood educators: a big Thank You for all you give to nurture, educate and support our communities’ children and families!

Liz Cohen

Brookings

Art festival folks culturally incestuous

Editor:

in response to Ms Tuttle’s comments about the Art Festival. I would have to admit I have a different perspective.

I am a relative newcomer to Brookings and I am not an artist. As such my experience with the festival has been one of head shaking amusement. Yes this festival is a success ... but only despite the organizers repeated attempt to shoot themselves in the foot with increasingly larger caliber weapons. The best I can say is that, from an outsider’s viewpoint, the festival is less about art then it is about a group of culturally incestuous control freaks who wish to impose their vision on the community. They insist that getting their feelings hurt constitutes some sort of cause for litigation.

It seems from this observation post that the new broom should be applied and perhaps the festival can grow instead of ossify. I know this isn’t how things were done in the past ... but then again it might behoove us to move away from a stagnant group of small pond dwellers and bring in someone who can actually organize the event.

But then what do I know? I am just a ignorant hick who clearly doesn’t understand art or artists. I guess I was never that interested in gazing at my own navel.

Kenneth Swanson

Harbor

Typical liberal view of U.S Constitution

Editor:

Donna Marcelino’s letter, “Want credibility? Stick to the facts,” in
the Pilot of April 30 claims that individual sections of the Health Care
bill do not mean what they clearly say, and that we must read the
entire 3000-page bill to understand it.

This sounds like the typical liberal interpretation of the U.S.
Constitution, which claims that individual sections of the Constitution,
such as the Bill of Rights’ Second Amendment, are meaningless and
invalid in themselves, and only mean what the liberals want them to
mean.

Another letter, “Health Care bill is a great start,” claims that the
bill is “the beginning of a long process of taking away from health care
insurance companies strangling hold on our society.”

My reading of the bill indicates just the opposite. Citizens will be
compelled to purchase health care insurance (from private companies) at
any prices the companies care to charge. Many insurance companies are
already looking forward to this bonanza by substantially increasing
their rates!

John Cupp

Smith River

Obama sin laden preventing peace

Editor:

Oh, goodie!

Osama bin Laden is dead!

Now, all we have standing between us and national peace of mind is Obama sin laden.

Chuck Grove

Harbor

Plenty to do along our local coast

Editor:

Re: John Magurski’s letter to the editor (Pilot, April 20) about
Brookings being a town where there is nothing to do, I assume he is
talking about Brookings, but since his letter locates him in Gold Beach,
he may be referring to both towns.

With reference to Brookings, the reason so many people live happily
in our little town is because there are so many things to do, i.e.: art
galleries, little theater, music venues, social clubs, exercise centers,
fishing, boating, hiking, camping, and the most beautiful coastline
anywhere. We also have bars, as well as good restaurants here, in Gold
Beach and Crescent City.

Current events are written up in local newspapers. Seek out these activities. It’s surprising what is out there.

Further, there are many volunteer opportunities available. The Garden
Club always needs volunteers to maintain their beautification projects
throughout the city, and the Azalea Park Foundation sorely needs weeders
to keep the park beautiful. How about walkling dogs or assisting the
Humane Society? The list goes on.

I’ve left out one major activity: learning “something to do” to find
it. Volunteering is very rewarding and always appreciated. For those who
don’t find things to do here, the distance to outer space is not that
great. Amenities, enjoyment, expense, congestion, pollution – yes to all
of these. On a daily basis –don’t want it!

Barbara Wieneke

Brookings

Hope everyone will read health care bill

Editor:

I am glad that my letter on Obamacare has raised some interest.

I want to thank Mr. Whiting for correcting my oversight on the latest
bill number. It is indeed HR3590 now. You can find it at
opencongress.org by putting that bill number in. It has been revised as
early as last month, so I guess that these changes will not show up yet.
Kind of hard to spend the amount of time to read it every time the
government changes it.

I hope everyone will read the bill and make a informed decision on
it. It indeed has some good in it but, as always, a lot of hidden
issues, as Mr. Whiting says, government speak. Ms. Marcelino has exactly
the idea I was hoping would come out of this letter. READ THE BILL!

As far as Mr .Davis is concerned, not all people who disagree with
him are bigots. People who name call usually have a weak point!
Hopefully, if he has not read the bill he will. Then he can point to the
good in it, instead of the bad he sees in other people. These kinds of
letters are distasteful!

I support my president. I do not like many of the things he stands
for, but he is the president of these United States. I love my country
and wish to live nowhere else. I respect the views of all Americans and,
as with them I will vote my opinions, but live with the results. Here’s
hoping that many of you will get involved in our country in a positive
way.

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